0

I have been an adjunct at different community colleges. I just got offered and accepted full time teaching position job (verbally) not in paper yet. The unfortunate situation is that I already signed contracts to adjunct a couple of sections at another school. It is possible for me to teach at both schools, but my fear is getting burned out, and want teach my full time position well.

However, I feel that if I back out of my written contracts it can jeopardize my full time teaching position (and future prospects), since that is just a verbal agreement and I haven't signed a contract for that.

Should I back out of my adjunct classes so I can concentrate on my full time position. Or should I just stick to teaching both for that semester to avoid possible backlash?

Improve this question
4
  • Check your contract with the place that is offering you a full time position. Does it have an exclusivity clause (that's typical of many full time faculty contracts.) Review your part time contracts and consider whether the penalties for breaking them are worth the risk. As a practical matter, if you break your part time contracts, nothing is likely to happen except that those places won't consider hiring you again. – Brian Borchers Aug 21 '16 at 1:33
  • 7
    Don't do anything until you at least have the full-time offer in writing. – user37208 Aug 21 '16 at 1:44
  • Yeah, I don't have a written contract till this upcoming week. So I am not able to check to see if it has an exclusivity clause. The people who hired me, knows about my adjunct position and were willing to accommodate around it during my interview (I shared with them upfront). So I'm guessing there is most likely not an exclusivity clause. My class at my adjunct place starts this upcoming week as well. So I'm guessing its probably smarter and safer to just not back out of my classes. Is that correct? – Pete Aug 21 '16 at 1:57
  • I'll just say that I sympathize with your dilemma, as juggling offers with little window to accept is among the worst things about adjunct work. On the other hand: Neither of the places I contracted at (NE USA) had me sign paper contracts. – Daniel R. Collins Aug 21 '16 at 4:12
1

You can ask for an unsigned copy of the offer letter for full-time, and explain that you need to look it over so you can decide how to proceed with the adjunct work. They should understand and even appreciate that you don't want to leave anybody high and dry. Likewise, you might consider contacting the chairs of the departments where you are adjuncting and get a sense of how difficult it would be for them to find someone else to teach the course. It could go either way. They might not have a good back up plan, or they may have a reserve of graduate students who need to teach to improve their CVs.

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.